Achieving ASHRAE Compliance with In-Room Air Cleaners

ITASCA, IL (April 30, 2026) – As indoor air quality (IAQ) standards evolve in response to growing contaminant concerns, many buildings and facilities teams may be unprepared to meet changes in regulations.

A new whitepaper from Fellowes, a leading provider of commercial air quality management (AQM) solutions, highlights a critical gap between current ventilation standards and emerging requirements for infection control, while outlining a path to compliance that prioritizes cost savings, contaminant control and occupant health.

The whitepaper, Achieving ASHRAE 62.1 and 241 Compliance: How In-Room Air Cleaners Complement HVAC Systems, examines how the introduction of ASHRAE Standard 241 is reshaping how buildings approach indoor air system designs. While ASHRAE 62.1 has long served as the foundation for acceptable IAQ through adequate ventilation rates, ASHRAE 241 introduces higher clean air requirements focused on reducing the spread of airborne infectious aerosols. The result is a growing divide between what buildings are designed to deliver with their HVAC systems, and what emerging standards require.

Key findings in the report include:

• Clean air requirements under ASHRAE 241 can be four to six times higher than those in ASHRAE 62.1, creating a compliance challenge for engineers and facility managers;
• Traditional ventilation-based approaches, including the traditionally used Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP), rely on increasing outdoor air intake and may be costly, energy-intensive and difficult to scale with existing infrastructure. It often requires significant HVAC upgrades, ductwork modifications and increased energy consumption to condition additional outdoor air;
• Performance-based strategies, such as the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP), can reduce reliance on increased outdoor air to optimize energy use while meeting evolving IAQ standards;
• In real-world applications, such as classrooms and offices, existing HVAC systems often fall hundreds of CFM short of ASHRAE 241 targets, requiring supplemental solutions to close the gap.

Traditional ventilation strategies are built on the idea that outdoor air is always better than indoor air, but that assumption isn’t always the case,” said Jason Jones, Director of Air Quality Management at Fellowes. “Increasing outdoor air alone can introduce pollutants, strain HVAC systems, and significantly increase energy costs, particularly in extreme climates. With ASHRAE 241, the focus shifts to delivering and verifying clean air based on occupant density and risk, not just air volume.

This is where supplemental air cleaning becomes a critical part of the solution. High-efficiency air cleaners can measurably reduce airborne contaminants, enhance equivalent clean air delivery, and help buildings achieve target clean air rates without over-reliance on outdoor ventilation.

This whitepaper provides practical guidance for building owners and engineers, outlining how performance-based approaches like IAQP—paired with validated air cleaning technologies—can offer a more flexible, resilient, and cost-effective pathway to compliance while supporting long-term indoor air quality and return on investment.”

To download the full whitepaper, visit the Fellowes website.

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About Fellowes

Celebrating its 109th year under the private ownership and executive leadership of the Fellowes family, Fellowes is a global leader and trusted partner that provides product solutions to fulfill a broad range of WorkLife needs that enable greater productivity, wellness, and inspiration. Throughout its history, Fellowes has been grounded in its purpose to “serve at the intersection of family, innovation, quality and care.” Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, USA, Fellowes operates from 24 locations across the globe. For more information, please visit Fellowes.com.